"As a child I often wondered whether there truly is a benevolent God who sees everything, and how he manages to do that, how does he not forget anything: not the movement of a cloud in the sky, not all the movements and steps of every one among us, not the dreams of the entire world … I would say to myself: it is impossible to imagine that such a memory could exist, that nothing is lost in oblivion. My childhood imagination still haunts me: the history of occurences is infinitely great, and the history of surviving images is infinitely small." (Wim Wenders)
The womb represents both safety and a limited space at the same time. IN VIVO in the midst of this turbulence, a public park, bares the memory of the birth. In the sterile whiteness and softness of materials (gauze, cotton, diapers, hygienic pads), so characteristic of the period of childbirth and the time after it, the communication among artists and passers-by entangles and disentangles- playful or poetic, soul-stirring or familiar.
We deal with pregnancy and birth based on the extremely present need to de-medicalise such essential phenomena - to be two in one, to permit separation, sensuality, crossing the boundaries of the body, pain, pleasure, closeness, to open and close yourself, transgression. Screams and whispers become visible, audible - with the help of emotional commitment, irony, humour and play. Expectations, ideals, notions, images, prejudices concerning motherhood, confrontation of female and male memory, confrontation with your feelings, the unrecognised ones as well - fear, fatigue, boredom, incapability, overload, anger, and distress.
Barbara Kapelj
